new delhi: An extortion racket operating out of Mandoli jail was busted and five members, including a prison employee, were arrested here, Delhi Police said on Wednesday.
One of the accused, one Vikas, allegedly an active member of the notorious 'Nandu Gang' and a history-sheeter, used to call up people and threaten them before demanding money.
The case came to the fore after one Nitin Gupta claimed that for the last three days, he has been receiving WhatsApp calls and messages on his phone from two numbers threatening him with dire consequences if he didn't pay up Rs 10 lakhs as demanded by the caller.
During investigation, police found that the numbers were registered in the name of one Jagmohan and one Pramod Kumar. Accordingly, raids were conducted and Jagmohan was arrested, who confessed that on the request of his cousin, Kumar, he issued four SIM cards on August 6 and gave them to him. On his instance, Kumar, on an interim bail in a murder case, was also arrested.
"On interrogation, Kumar confessed that he met one Honey Rajpal in jail, who, during Kumar's interim bail, asked him to arrange and deliver 10 SIM cards, for which he was paid Rs 2,000 each, and give it to one Rajendra, Head Warden of the prison. Next, he issued four SIM cards in his name and six in his brother's," Anto Alphonse, DCP, Dwarka District, said
During investigation, SIM card dealers were examined and accordingly Rajender Singh was arrested, on the behest of whom police arrested Rajpal and alleged mastermind Vikas, police said
The accused revealed that they demanded money from innocent people as part of their syndicate and threatened them if their advances were rejected.